Cushman & Wakefield (C&W), the global real estate services firm headquartered in Chicago that is active in the Westchester and Fairfield office market, has released a report it prepared in conjunction with George Washington University that delves into the impacts that the remote work trend caused by the Covid-19 pandemic likely will have over the long-term.
According to the report, Stanford University found that when the pandemic was surging in May, up to 60% of U.S. economic output was dependent on working from home, with 42% of all workers working from home, 33% of workers not working at all, and only 26% of workers commuting.
“An office workplace environment can drive productivity or erode it, depending greatly upon a worker”™s role, personality and job complexity, as well as the tasks to be accomplished on any given day,” the C&W report said. It noted that remote work can increase productivity through reductions in commute time, perceived stress and ongoing interruptions.
The report said that getting away from the office periodically has measurable benefits for innovation by creating what it described as “head space” for workers and offering new ways to look at projects.
The report found, however, that there are also negatives to working remotely.
“Less face-to-face interaction means employees are less likely to be engaged in the corporate culture, and managers find it more difficult to foster certain values through traditions and customs. Half of employees struggle to connect with their company”™s culture during the Covid-19-induced remote work experiment,” the report said.
The report said that although having employers offering employees a choice of where their work is completed is a net positive for the employees, working from home exclusively often is associated with lower results from employees.
“Only 55% of employees engaged in remote work during Covid-19 restrictions have a ”˜sense of wellbeing.”™ Over a third of employees (36%) engaged in remote work during Covid-19 restrictions do not feel like they are learning. Formal process learning is continuing but informal learning and mentoring are challenges,” the report said.
The report found there are potential benefits for employers from remote work including sparing employees the kind of disruptions found in an office environment, improvements in an employee”™s work-life balance, and providing employers with greater access to talent.
“We find it unlikely that organizations will see sustained 100% remote work in the long-run given mixed evidence in the research and occupiers”™ mixed experiences with their employees,” the report said. “Every organization we studied, ultimately, still utilized office space. Thus, the post Covid-19 future will likely be characterized by organizations determining the right balance of remote work to advance their organizational priorities rather than one that sees a move toward an office-free world.”
